Improvement in machines for polishing buttons



. 2 Sheets-Shet 1. T. L. GALKINS & F. O. BADGER. Machine forPolishingButtons, 8:0. No. 221,030.

Patented Oct; 28, 1879.

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N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON, D C.

4 2 Sheets-Sha a 2. v T.=L. GALKINS 81F. 0.BADGER.

Machine for Polishing Buttons, 82-0. N0. 221,030.

N. PEl'ERs, FHOTOLITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D c.

UNITED STAT S PATENT OEEIo THOMAS L. oALKINs, or NEW YORK, AND FRANKLIN o. BADGER, OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING BUTTONS, 8L0.

Specification forming-part of Letters Patent No. 221,030, dated October 28, 1879; application filed September 4, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS L. OALKINs, 0 the city, county, and State of New York, and FRANKLIN O. BADGER, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Machine for Polishing Buttons and other Articles, which is fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin gs, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the machine, the driving-pulley being removed. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section in the plane 5000, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section in the plane 9 y, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section in the plane 2 2, Fig.1. Fig.5 is adeta-ched view of one of the retaining-plates.

Similar letters indicate eorrespondin g parts.

This invention consists in the combination, in a machine for polishing buttons and other articles, of a carrier provided with cells or recesses for receiving the articles to be polished, and buffs revolving in opposite directions, and so arranged as to act on both sides of the articles at the same time. With these devices are further combined pushers for ejecting the finished articles from the recesses in the carrier. Also, in the combination, in a polishing-machine, of a revolving carrier provided with recessesvfor receiving the articles to be polished, mechanism for imparting to said carrier an intermittent motion, buffs and cleaners acting on the articles in the carrier, mechanism for causing the same to enter the recesses in the carrier when the same is at rest and to recede therefrom when the carrier is revolved, pushers for ejecting the finished articles from the carrier, and mechanism for imparting motion to said pushers; the combination, in a machine for polishing buttons and other articles, of a carrier revolving on a shaft, friction-pulley for imparting motion to said shaft, detent for holding said carrier stationary, buffs and cleaners revolving in opposite directions, and so arranged as to act on both sides of the articles, pushersfor ejecting the finished articles from the carrier, and cam-levers operated by cams, and so arranged as to allow the buffs, cleaners, and pushers to act on the articles in the carrier when the same is at rest, and to cause buffs and cleaners are about to enter the recesses in the carrier, as will be hereinafter more .fully described; the combination, in a polishing-machine,-of a revolving carrier, buffs, and cleaners revolving in opposite directions, and so arranged as to act on both sides of the article at the same time, pushers for ejecting the finished articles from the carriergand retainin g-plates for preventing the articles from falling out of the carrier when the same is in motion.

In the drawings, the letter A designates the frame forming the bearings for the working parts of the machine. In this frame is revolved an axle, B, by means of a pulley, O. This pulley O is provided with asleeve, a, surrounding the shaft B, and motion is imparted to the shaft B by the friction of said sleeve on the shaft. This friction may be regulated by a screw, 1), or other suitable means. The pulley 0 receives motion by means of a belt, 0, from the pulley G, which pulley G is keyed on the driving-shaft 'E,to which motion is imparted by thepulley F, which is operated by power or other suitable means. The pulley F revolves in the direction of the arrow shown upon it, and since the belt 0 is crossed, the shaft B revolves in an opposite direction, carrying with it the carrier D, which is keyed upon it. This carrier D continues to revolve until the detent c, Fig. 3, springs by the action of a weight or sprin ginto one of the notches d in the periphery of the carrier D. This detent holds the carrier D and shaft B stationary, while the pulley O continues to revolve. When the shaft E has revolved far enough, the cam f, Fig. 3, mounted upon it, presses the detent 6 out of the notch, and the carrier D again revolves, and so on alternately. This carrier D is provided with any desired number of cells or recesses for receiving the articles to be polished, forty-eight being shown in the drawings, and numbered 1, 12, 24, 36, and 4.8, respectively. This carrier D revolves between two fixed perforated plates, H l, which are attached to theframe A. The plate H, as shown in Fig. 3, has part of its periphery cut away, so as to leave a certain number of recessesas, for example, twelvein the carrier uncovered. The plate I, Fig. 5, has the corresponding part of its periphery complete, and not provided with any perforation. The advantage of this arrangementis, that when the machiue stands as in Figs. 3 and 4 the articles to be polished can be rapidly fed into these twelve cells or recesses in the carrier from one side without risk of falling out at the other.

"When the carrier D now revolves for onefourth of a revolution, the cells or recesses 1 to 12 are carried between the plates H and I, and as said carrier D revolves rapidly the articles in said cells cannot slip out and through the perforations in the plates Hand 1. 'When said carrier 1) has thus partly revolved, the detent 0 holds it for a while stationary. \Vhile it is thus held the buffs g, of which there are twelve on each side of the carrier D, enter the recesses in the carrier and polish the articles in the same. At the same time the cleaners it, of which there are a corresponding number, enter the twelve succeeding cells or recesses in the carrier D, and clean the polishingpowder and other impurities from the articles, while twelve pushers, 'i, enter the succeeding twelve recesses in the carrier D from one side, and push the finished articles into a chute, J, or other fit receptacle. Of course the plates H and I have to be so arranged that when the carrier D is at rest the perforations in said plates correspond with the recesses in the carrier.

The cells or recesses in the carrier are large enough for the largest buttons, and are of a form adapted to hold the button from periph eral displacement by centrifugal force, the result being that the machine can be used for buttons of different sizes. If a button be dropped into one of the cells or recesses of the carrier, and it lies therein in an oblique position, it will be immediately brought into an upright position by the action of thebuifs aeting thereon from opposite sides, and by such peculiar construction the use of clamps for holding the buttons firm in the carrier can be entirely dispensed with.

The buffs, cleaners, and pushers are operated as follows: The buffs g and cleaners h revolve in the frames K L M, and motion is imparted to them by beltsj 7.. These belts receive motion from pulleys lm, to which mo tion is imparted by pulleys n 0 on the same shafts. These pulleys n 0 are connected to pulleys p q on the driving-shaft E by belts a s. One of these beltsas, for example, the belt ris crossed, so that the buffs and cleaners on one side of the carrier D revolve in a direction opposite to that of the buffs and cleaners on the other side.

By this arrangement the buffs and cleaners act on both sides of the articles in the carrier D, holding them upright and stationary, so that the use of clamps for holding the articles firm and steady can be dispensed with,

and much time and labor, which would be lost in tightening and opening these clamps, is saved.

The frames L and M, in which these butfs and cleaners revolve, are fixed on the frame A, while the frames K slide on the shaft B, and are pressed by the springs 20 against the cam-levers N, which rock on bearin gs attached to the frames L. These cam-levers N are operated by camsu on the shaft E, and as these levers N rock to and fro, the frames K slide back and forth. On these frames K are springs v c, which press on the heads of the shafts of the buffs g and cleaners 71, whereby these buffs and cleaners are caused to slide back and forth with the frames K K, thus alternately entering the recesses in the carrier D, and alternately receding from the same. This motion is so timed that the buffs and cleaners act on the articles in the carrier D when the same is stationary, and reeede therefrom when the carrier revolves.

From one of the frames K project two rods, t t, of metal or other suitable rigid material. To the end of these rods is secured a plate, y, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, of metal or other suitable material, to which are attached the pushers i, twelve in number. As this frame K slides toward the carrier D these pushers enter from one side the twelve recesses or cells from 86 to 48, Fig.3, and push the finished articles out of the recesses into the chute J or other suitable receptacle.

Thus it will be seen that the articles which are placed in the receiver D are first polished by the buffs g, then cleaned by the cleaners h, and then, when finished, ejected from the earricr D by the pushers 1 When the buffs are out of the recesses in e the carrier D, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, it is desirable to impregnate them with some suitable polishing-powder as is used in the trade. For this purpose a feeder, O, carrying on its face a polishing-powder, is provided. This feeder O swings on bearings a on the plates H and 1, and is held up in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a spring, weight, or other suitable means.

\Vhen it is desired to impregnate the buffs g with the powder, the operator steps on the treadle Q, and by means of the strap or belt 0 the feeder is caused to glide over the faces of the buffs g, supplying them with powder.

The feeder O is covered with buckskin or other suitable material adapted to retain a quantity of polishing-powder, which is transferred to the buffs when the feeder is swung down.

The wiper P, also swinging in the bearin gs a, is, by the same strap or belt 0', caused to slide over the cleaners h. The faces of this wiper are covered with gravel-paper or other fit material, whereby it removes all impurities from the faces of the cleaners h.

The wiper P is caused to move past the faces of the cleaners by the action of the treadle Q, to which it is connected by the strap or belt 0. p

On freeing the treadle Q, the feeder and wiper spring back to their former position by the action of the spring or" 00. Of conrse, if desired, the feeder and wiper can be operated by a cam or other suitable device, which, when attached to the shaft E, may be caused to act on the treadle Q.

If it should be desired to cut grooves in the articlesbefore ejecting them from the carrier D, some of the cleaners h may be removed and revolving cutters substituted,whereby the desired object would be accomplished.

A simple and cheap way of constructing the buffs-is as follows: We take elastic tubular heads of about an inch and a half long, and into these heads we draw bristles or narrow strips of leather or similar material, so that one series of ends of said bristles or strips is flush with one end of the tubular head, while their other ends project beyond the tubular head a short distance. This tubular head inclosing the bristles or strips is then inserted in a metallic capsule, the other end of which capsule is tapped for the reception of the screw ends of the shafts carrying the buffs.

The cleaners are made in the same manner, with the exception that cotton-waste or like material is used in place of bristles or leather strips.

This construction of buffs and cleaners has the advantages that it is cheap, and that, as the buffs and cleaners are liable to wear out rapidly, the tubular heads can be supplied with new bristles or cotton-waste at very little expense and in a very short time.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by'Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination, in a polishing-machine, of a carrier having cells or recesses adapted in form to hold the article to be polished from peripheral displacement, with buffs arranged to revolve in opposite directions for simultaneous action upon both sides of the article, and means for operating the carriers and buffs, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, in'a polishing-machine, of a carrier, D, bufi's and cleaners revolving in. opposite directions, and adapted to act on both sides of the articles at the same time,

means for operating the carriers and buffs, wherebythe use of clamps for holding the articles firmly in the carrier is dispensed with, and pushers t, for ejecting the finished articles from the carrier, all constructed and adapted to operate substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a polishing-machine, of a revolving carrier, D, mechanism for imparting to said carrier an intermittent motion, buffs and cleaners actin on the articles in said carrier, mechanism for causing said buffs and cleaners to enter the recesses in the carrier when the same is at rest, and to recede therefrom when the carrier is revolved, pushers i, and mechanism for imparting motion to said pushers, all constructed and adapted to operate substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a polishing-machine, of a carrier, D, revolving on a shaft, frictionpulley O, for imparting motion to said shaft, detentc for holding the carrier stationary,

cam f, and spring or weight for operating said.

detent, buffs g, cleaners h, pushers t, and cam levers N, operated by cams u and springs 20, all constructed and adapted to operate substantially as described. 1

5. A polishing machine constructed substantially as described, and provided with a feeder, 0, and wiper P, and treadle Q, or other equivalent mechanism for bringing said feeder and wiper to act on the buffs and cleaners when the same are not in operation, and spring or weight for causing the feeder and wiper to spring back to their former position when the buffs and cleaners are about to enter the recesses in the carrier D, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, in a polishing-machine, of a revolving carrier, D, bufts g, and cleaners h, revolving in opposite directions, and so ar-- ranged as to act on both sides of the article at the same time, so that the use of clamps for holding the articles steady in the carrier can be dispensed with, pushers z, for ejecting the finished articles from the carrier D, cam- THOMAS L. OALKINS. [L. s.]

FRANKLIN O. BADGER. [L. s.] \Vitnesses W. HAUFF,

W. O. HAUFF. 

